AP Photo24-year-old starting pitcher Chad Billingsley was 12-11 with a 4.03 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 196.1 innings in 2009.
Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and John Lackey are the three biggest MLB free agents this offseason. But what about players who are possibly available in a trade?

• The Big Lead profiles three big names that we can expect to hear in regular rotation in the rumor mill: Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Roy Halladay. Though the Rays picked up Crawford's $10 million option for 2010, The Big Lead notes:

Though 2008 was a watershed, the Rays face two realities. They don’t have fans. They don’t have a real stadium to make them financially viable. If they can cut significant salary (one-sixth of their payroll), without substantially harming the present they need to do it.

• Sticking with Crawford, DRaysBay provides a thorough statistical analysis of his value and splashes some cold water on the idea that a Crawford trade would mean a prospect windfall for the Rays:

The return for one year of Crawford is probably less than you would hope. Even with some wins-starved GM out there looking to add one final piece. Further, trading Crawford becomes even more tricky due to the Rays almost certainly being in contention beyond the trade deadline.

• Staying in left field, MLBTradeRumors lists 15 left fielders who could potentially be available for a trade featuring names like Carlos Lee, Josh Willingham, and Adam Dunn. For a Red Sox fan, this list could be retitled "If All Else Fails."

• Is Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins a good "buy low"? The Denver Post reports the team is trying to move him ASAP. Atkins, who hit just .226 in 2009, saw his name percolate frequently on Red Sox message boards last season.

• The Miami Herald says second baseman Dan Uggla, he of the 3 consecutive 30-homer seasons, is "likely to be dealt." His defense is poor — could he be a DH candidate?

• John Perotto of Baseball Prospectus lists a number on surprising names that could be on the block, including Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley, Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, Braves pitcher Derek Lowe, and Rangers masher Nelson Cruz.

• What about other starting pitchers? The Detroit Tigers blog Bless You Boys looks at the rumors circulating that the team is open to offers for All Star starting pitcher Edwin Jackson.

This could be a classic "sell high" circumstance for the Tigers. Trading away a lower salaried player who's still under club control for two more seasons isn't typically the way to keep payroll down. But the contracts that Detroit would surely prefer to trade - Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis, or Nate Robertson - won't interest anyone. So if you're looking to trim payroll somewhere, it has to be done with a player another team would take.